Pierce made a driving layup with 10 seconds remaining as the
Celtics avoided an embarrassing loss with a 102-99 victory over
the Golden State Warriors.

A jumper by Tony Battie with 60 seconds to play gave the
Celtics a seemingly safe 98-91 lead. But Golden State reeled
off the next eight points, capped by rookie Gilbert Arenas'

3-pointer from the top of the key with 15 seconds remaining.

On the Celtics' ensuing possession, Pierce drove the middle of
the lane and was able to score over 6-11 Erick Dampier and
high-riser Jason Richardson.

"The play he (Celtics coach Jim O'Brien) drew up was a similar
play to the one in Miami," said Pierce, referring to a game
earlier this season. "Golden State I don't think scouted the
play well. We cleared out the whole left side, I saw a lane,
went hard to the basket and got a layup.

"I want the ball when it's late in the game. I want an
opportunity to try to win the game. Coach put me in that
situation tonight and gave me a chance to do it and I came
through for him."

Without a timeout, the Warriors went to Arenas, who drove the
length of the court but was stopped along the left baseline and
threw a pass into the lane that Pierce intercepted.

"We just said we weren't going to let the ball get to the rim,"
Celtics forward Antoine Walker said. "Gilbert was attacking the
rim and we just collapsed on him."

Pierce, who scored 23 of his 33 points after halftime, sank a
pair of foul shots with one second left to seal it. It was
Pierce's 30th game in which he scored at least 30 points this
season.

Antoine Walker added 22 points for the Celtics (41-31), who
clinched their first .500 season since 1993.

Former Celtic Danny Fortson scored 20 points to lead Golden
State, which lost for the 11th time in its last 12 games.

Facing one the NBA's worst teams, the Celtics were lethargic in
the opening half, when they shot 30 percent (14-of-46) from the
field and trailed, 45-37. Fortson had 10 points in the half to
pace the Warriors.

The Celtics looked more like a playoff team to start the second
half as they used 9-1 run to start the period, pulling even at
46-46 on a dunk by Battie.

Pierce, who struggled in the first half, came up huge in the
third quarter. He scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, scoring
from both inside and outside.

A 3-pointer by Walker with 2:31 left in the third quarter
snapped a 65-65 tie and triggered an 8-2 run to close the
quarter for Boston, which made 14-of-20 shots in the period.

Walker struggled from the field, making 9-of-25 shots. But the
versatile forward helped in other areas as he added seven
assists and four steals.

Coming off Tuesday's surprising win at Minnesota, the Warriors
battled back, tying it at 84-84 on a 3-pointer by Arenas, who
finished with 14 points.

Richardson finished with 18 points and Antawn Jamison 13 for
Golden State, which shot 40 percent (36-of-90) and held a 56-41
rebounding advantage. Fortson and Dampier each collected 13
rebounds.

"It's awful, especially tonight," said Fortson, who was
acquired prior to last season in a four-team trade from Boston.
"I wanted to get this one tonight in the worst way I could but
unfortunately, you know, Paul hit a tough shot at the end."

Walker was good from beyond the arc with 4:40 left to give
Boston an 87-84 lead. Battie capped a 14-7 surge with his
jumper to make it 98-91 with 60 seconds left.

But Jamison made a layup and 3-pointer before Arenas drilled a
shot from beyond the arc to give the Warriors the lead.

"We couldn't let the game slip away from us," Walker said. "We
needed to get that control early before they continued to build
confidence. But they never buckled, despite the fact that we
got the momentum back."

After their poor first half, the Celtics shot 51 percent
(21-of-41) the rest of the way to finish at 43 percent
(37-of-86).